It ain't how hard you hit life; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done! That would bring us forward.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Gn Chamah - 2nd Attempt (29.04.2006 - 01.05.2006)

when i read an open invitation which ended with a line "we can't fail" from kmeng, i giggled. i seldom heard something so adamant from kmeng that, to reach the summit is a MUST. it's the 2nd attempt to chamah for me. back to 2004, it was a nightmare to try on chamah via Pos Germah, Perak. which, only 4 out of 12 managed to step on the summit. i am NOT 1 of the 4. since kmeng demanded only fit horse could come along, i replied yes without 2nd thought. 1 is bcoz i am a fit horse. 2 is fit horses will able to travel in speed of light ;-) thus, logically, "we won't fail"!

i was so worried that this is going to be another deva ju. the same 4WD company failed to show up last time, caused us to change course to mt. batu putih instead. when miew asked around for transportation, a passionate local even offered us a van! gosh, it just means that he has no idea what is a logging trail is.

2hr of bumpy ride to kg simpoi. believe it, i managed to have a nap! once got down from the HILUX, i knew i have got a burn from the sun. BBQ red coloration and roastered evenly if that's how to promote a good known kenny roger's chicken. too late to apply a SPF30.after a short lunch, the guide led us to kg rekom. another 3hr of sun bathing along the logging trail. erosion and landslides were what had happened to the trek. the trek is being narrowed. jz wondering if we could able to use back the same trek next time.

godness me. a familiar picture provokes my memory to say "yes, great to be back to the village in 5hr rather than 2days in previous trip". we reached kg rekom at 1600. we still have plenty of time to rest b4 the big day tomorrow. but the face of the village has changed. a river which used to be wide has became a narrow drain. sand from aside has made the river shallow and narrow. last visit, the village was more tidy. it gave me a spacious feel. now, grass stands tall amd cramped the place.

rafflesia! the biggest flower suppose to have decorate chamah everywhere. now, we hardly see one as it has been harvested by the locals for commercial. RM15 per kg for its petal. it gives the power to heal to women who had miscarriage.

i always looking forward a dinner during a camping trip. this time, though without our iron cook, ailing, miew teamedup yanying and gwah still managed to turn the can foods into sumptuos like dinner. kmeng became the center of attention again. he didn't bring the rice! we end up with eating ubi kayu from the locals with the dishes. same like last visit, we rented a hut. roof is made fo attap while bamboos frame the structure. it rained that nite but the roof hardly leak. a cosy and quite surrounding to me.

day 2:

kg rekom-2hr to reach last water point->4hr ascent->

i kept looking at my watch. it showed we were making a steady progress to the summit. this time, the guides were more reliable. no miss turning like last attempt. there were slopes that made us gulped for air from the already low pressure atm. it had been some time that i didn't do any serious outdoor activity. work had been heavy. the gasping was actually made me felt 'alive' in the outdoor world. i exchanged my bag with yanying. she was carrying a bigger bag. im a gentleman. i didn't want her to get tired faster as the ascent was quite energy dissipating. and, the agenda is, "we can not fail!" by kmeng. we made some timely breaks to replenish energy to our body. i became more appreciative to the foods and drinks. i can felt every drip of water reached every cell that needed it. the filling to my stomach had me felt with great satisfaction. perhaps, that's 1 of the reason why i love mountaineering. it cultivates the moderation and appreciation within oneself.

i knew that we were close to the summit when i saw some familiar plants that grows above 2000m. at 1330, we reached the top! it was one of the cleanest camp site at summit i have ever seen. perhaps, due to the toughness of the mountain and the effort to carry the water up, less ppl choose to stay overnight at the summit. we had our lunch there, celebrated it with a toast of 100+ and group posing with jalur gemilang again. but we can't really enjoy the view from the top as cloud covered the view in a 360 manner. i knew it means 'rain is coming'...

gosh, rain really poured down while we still wanted to spend more time on the top. every1 brought out the rain coat for cover. most of the coats were not really water proof but it captured and insulated the body heat to keep ourselves warm. anyway, the rain showed the mercy. it didn't pour us with full force and had stopped after some hours. it was a smooth descent back to the village. stepped on the flat ground with a feeling of greatness! we all made it safely!

another nite of ubi kayu campur lauk dinner. tasty though. i always find camping foods tasty witht he extra flavour of appreciation and thankful. i couldn't recall when was my last sleepless nite. i can sleep in anywhere, anytime when the sleeping mode strikes me. i barely move my legs. they need a quality rest...Zzz

day3:

reluctantly, i woke up. a good day to look a head as to get ourselves back to the city. we housekept the hut and ourselves. we 'donated' (rather than left ;-) whatever we feel no more necessary to the villagers and their kids. caps, shirts, bottles, shampoos etc3 grilling hours to reach back kg simpoi. the erosion along the logging trail really put some negative thoughts to my mind if there will be a landslide... horific scene. i kept my mouth shut of coz.

saw a freshly dissected rafflesia. gosh, the flower was huge! instinctively, i don't think the flower was being harvested by locals. looks more like an outsider's deed.we were late. the 4wd driver looked a bit annoyed. we wanted to take a shower around kg simpoi but Mail, the driver ushered us to hurry up as a rain looked imminent. we were somehow persuaded by him to take bath at gua cha. once we reached there, no one feels want to dip into the stream. milky coloration. that driver must be kidding us when he told us that was a hot spot for climbers to wash themselves. nonsense... we thought the other way. the water looked like as it filled with chemicals.

we were out at kuala bertis! while refilling the petrol, we managed to take shower in the shower room provided at the station. had KFC and off we headed back to KL from gua musang. we dropped by bentong to have a dinner break and reached home at late nite after enduring the jam along the karak highway.

somehow, miss that talkative fellow, TBK. too bad he couldn't join us with a last minute pull out. he himself made a diagnosis that he mite get a appendicitis. typical master student who is doing a research... like to do diagnosis but he is right eventually ;-)